Socrates (1970) TV
Director: Roberto Rossellini
Starring: Jean SylvPre (Socrates), Anne Caprile (Santippe), Beppe Mannaiuolo (Apollodoro), Ricardo Palacios (Critone), Antonio Medina (Platone), Julio Morales (Antistene), Emilio Miguel Hernández (Meleto)
philosopher who was a social gadfly in Athens
A IMDb registered user named zetes, who appears to know a lot about the Greek classics, gave the movie a very good rating. He wrote that a lot of historical work went into the production.
Historical Background:
470 B.C. -- born. His father was a sculptor and his mother a midwife.
Socrates married Xanthippe, who was considered a shrew. They had three sons: Lamprocles, Sophroniscus, and Menexenus.
432 B.C. -- he was in the Battle of Potidaea (Athens versus Corinth and Potidaea). With the Battle of Syboda, these two battles led to the Peloponnesian War.
431 B.C. --- start of the Peloponnesian War.
424 B.C. -- Socrates was in the Battle of Delium (Athenians versus Boeotians).
424-425 (winter) -- Socrates was in the Battle of Amphipolis (Athenians versus Sparta in the Peloponnesian War). It has been said that Socrates was decorated for bravery.
It is believed that Socrates earned money through his pupils. Aristophanes said Socrates ran a school of sophistry with his friend Chaerephon. (He may have also gotten money from the wealthy.)
One of his students was Plato. The historian Xenophon was an admirer of Socrates. Aristotle, in turn, studied with Plato.
423 B.C. -- Aristophanes wrote a play The Clouds in which he criticized Socrates and the new sophistic learning. (Some believe that this was the start of campaign against Socrates that led to his self-inflicted execution.)
421 B.C. -- the Peace of Nicias, a truce, was signed between Athens and Sparta. The peace lasted for six years.
404 -- Athens loses the Peloponnesian War. Athens was ruled by the "thirty tyrants" set up by Sparta.
After losing the war, Athenians started looking for a scapegoat to blame for their failures. The man they fixed on was Socrates. He was tried and found guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens. The court sentenced him to death by drinking hemlock (not the tree, but an herbaceous plant).
399 B.C. -- death of Socrates.
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